There hasn't been a formal vote, but support for boat ramps at the new Wall Springs Park in Palm Harbor appears to have evaporated. The one-two punch of environmentalists and nearby residents opposing the ramps has County Commission chairman Susan Latvala saying "there are just too many challenges."
County staff has been working on a master plan for the 190-acre gulffront park, where a spring bubbling out of the ground has drawn generations of Pinellas residents.
The county developed several concept plans for the park and sought public comment. The plans suggested a variety of amenities, including a restaurant, nature center, conference center, picnic shelters, canoe/kayak launch and a boat ramp.
Though a restaurant, conference center and nature center would draw substantial vehicular traffic, it was the ramp and boat traffic it would create that most worried opponents. Environmentalists feared power boats would frighten wildlife in the area and provide unnecessarily easy access to offshore spoil islands where birds nest. People who live in homes close to the park didn't want noisy boats crisscrossing the water near their homes.
Assistant County Administrator Jake Stowers said that with so much opposition, it is likely the boat ramp will be dropped. The canoe launch, which wasn't opposed, remains in the plans.
What will the county do about the increasingly loud calls for more public boat ramps in Pinellas? Well, officials have begun talks with the state about building a ramp at Honeymoon Island State Park.
However, that idea might not generate any less opposition than the ramp proposal at Wall Springs.
On the positive side, a ramp at Honeymoon Island would enable boaters to reach deep water more quickly. There also is more space for boat trailer parking at Honeymoon.
However, fans of Honeymoon Island who value its rugged and untamed character might oppose any development that would draw more traffic to the park. Grass flats around the island have been scarred in the past by boat traffic. And anyone who disliked the idea of people having easier access to spoil islands off Wall Springs Park surely would be uneasy about easier and quicker access to pristine Caladesi Island, which is just across Hurricane Pass from Honeymoon Island.
County officials also still are considering whether to build their ramp at Pop Stansell Park in Palm Harbor. That location seems to have many of the same problems opponents mentioned at Wall Springs - shallow water, spoil islands and nearby homes - plus the negative of little space for trailer parking.
The fact is Pinellas needs not one location for boat ramps, but several to reduce overcrowding at the few existing public ramps. Several small ramps, rather than one large one, would create less impact on the environment and neighbors.
There is no reason that Pinellas should have to solely bear the burden of locating and building boat ramps. With such a demand for ramps, cities that have fresh or saltwater access should be looking for locations where they could provide this sought after recreational amenity to their residents.
